Meryl Streep believes a "sleazy blouse" and push-up bra helped gain her the lead female part in 'Out of Africa' because director Sydney Pollack initially didn't think she was "sexy enough" to play th

Meryl Streep believes a "sleazy blouse" and push-up bra helped gain her the lead female part in 'Out of Africa'.

The Oscar-winning actress starred as a wealthy, unmarried woman in the 1985 movie alongside legendary director Sydney Pollack - who died of cancer in 2008 - and Robert Redford, and she admits the helmer initially thought she was too young and not "sexy enough" to play the part.

She said: "I was too young for the part. Sydney agreed to see me, but he didn't want to. So I went to this sleazy store near my house in the country and I bought a little sleazy blouse and wore a push-up bra. Sydney didn't think I would be sexy enough for this part. But I went in and auditioned and he gave me the part.

"I don't think I was more sexy than I am normally, but he saw something in me and let me play the part."

Meryl thought working with Sydney was one of the "great memories" of her life, and she admits it was "magic" shooting the romantic drama in Africa for six months.

In an interview with HELLO! magazine, she added: "I adored working with him. I think it's one of the great, great memories of my life, that whole six months we lived in Africa, shooting from January to June through the rainy season, Sydney managing this huge undertaking. It was a really, really difficult shoot, but we all loved it. It was magic."